Clarion Futures, the charitable foundation of Clarion Housing Group, has awarded £145,800 in funding to support environmental projects across the country.

The Community Green Grants Programme offered grants of up to £7,500 to organisations delivering projects relating to a host of environmental issues, including improving access to green spaces, enhancing biodiversity and nature, and boosting wellbeing and community cohesion.

Aligning with Clarion’s sustainability strategy, launched last year, which includes focus areas relating to wellbeing and placemaking and improving biodiversity and nature, 23 organisations have received funding through the programme, including:

  • Tower Hamlets-based charity It’s Your Life who will be delivering a ‘garden to plate’ gardening and cooking programme for local residents
  • Central Eltham Youth Project which aims to transform unused land on Clarion’s Geffery’s estate in Bromley into a community garden
  • CP Learning Trust who will use the grant to support their community orchard project in Wisbech, constructing a raised deck for wellbeing activities, wildlife watching, and socialising, as well as polytunnels to support plant growth.

Other organisations to be awarded funding include Urban Growth Learning Gardens, a social enterprise that improves Londoners’ wellbeing by collaborating to create and maintain beautiful, biodiverse spaces. The organisation plans to use the funding received to expand the existing community garden at Clarion’s Eastfields estate in Merton, which is one of the estates being transformed through a high-profile £1.8 billion regeneration project.

Anna Godefroy, Managing Director of Urban Growth Learning Gardens, said: “I’d like to say a huge thank you to Clarion Futures for funding this project. Our hope is that we’ll give the local community the opportunity to create and care for a green space on their doorstep, right in the heart of an urban environment.

“We believe a project like this can have a huge impact, enhancing wellbeing through physical activity and strengthening community connections, and we’re excited to get started.”

Matt Parsonage, Head of Communities at Clarion Futures, said: “Through our grants programme, we support all sorts of community projects each year, working with partners to provide opportunities to learn new skills and meet new people.

“Our Community Green Grants Programme was developed to help improve access to green spaces, increase biodiversity and boost our residents’ wellbeing, and we’re delighted to be working with so many fantastic partners to bring this to life.”

 To find out more about the community grants available through Clarion Futures, visit www.myclarionhousing.com/community-grants.